Geek Culture & Tech Expert: How Can I Help You Today?

Tagged with podcast

I was a guest on the Ron Knights show yesterday afternoon. Ron has been a community member for quite a while now, participating on the various websites we have. He also regularly blogs on Lockergnome with us.

I had a great time hanging out with Ron. We talked about some of the things that I’ve been up to recently and what’s in store for the near future of Lockergnome as a whole.

We have had more screencast submissions lately than we can even count. I know all of you are anxious and hoping to be featured in our channels. However, you’re wasting your time – and ours – if you aren’t following a few simple steps. Dylan took the time to create this screencast to help all of you have a better chance of having your work showcased.

HD Quality – 1080p is not required. 780p is more than sufficient. If at all possible, render them in 1280×720 resolution. It’s the perfect size for your screencast.

Format – .WMV and .AVI files are huge and a pain in the butt to transfer, upload and process. Always try to use an .MP4 format to make life much easier on everyone.

Introduce Yourself – Who are you? What do you do? Make sure you state your name at the beginning of the video and state that it is being recorded on behalf of youtube.com/lockergnome. At the end of the video, it is okay to tell people where to find you on YouTube, Twitter or the web. However, again please remember to mention our channels and sites.

Speak Clearly – Why is it you feel you should be talking about this subject? What makes it interesting or exciting? Pay attention to your tone of voice. No one wants to hear a robot or monotone person. This is your opportunity to shine, so impress your audience. Put some animation and life into your voice.

Length – Keep it short and simple, silly. No one is going to sit through a twenty minute screencast.

Annotation – Put the lockergnome.com annotation in the lower right-hand corner of the video using just about any video editing software.

Uploading – Don’t upload your video to Geeks or your own YouTube channel. Send them directly to Chris and to Kat via email – using filemail.com. We prefer filemail due to faster download speeds and no intrusive popups.

Email Contact – Make SURE you CC Kat on every screencast email that you send me, whether it is questions that you have, an actual video file to send or if you’re just following up on something you have submitted. Chances are, I’m going to pass off your email to her to answer, anyway. She handles the upload of all videos for me, and it’s usually her you have to get through in order to be approved.

HAVE FUN – This isn’t supposed to be work. It’s supposed to be FUN. Relax and enjoy yourself.

Thanks, Dylan, for doing this screencast for us. I appreciate you breaking it down this way to make it easier on everyone involved.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

Imagine being stuck in an airport for hours on end. You’re bored out of your mind, and feeling as though you could flip out at any second. Now imagine having the iPad with you, just waiting for you to connect to iTunes. It takes one tap of a finger to connect to the iTunes store via a wireless connection.

Once you connect to iTunes, you know what to do from there. You can browse through music, podcasts, telelvision shows and movies to purchase. Grab that new album you’ve been dying to listen to, plug your headphones in, and rock out. There are millions of songs available – and thousands of movies and videos.

If you are a student and could use some extra knowledge (who couldn’t?), you can connect to iTunes U. There you will find lectures, lessons, audiobooks and even podcasts – all coming from universities and museums.

You can quickly transfer your existing iTunes library from another device to your iPad and from your iPad to the other machines. No matter where you go (or what device you have with you) you won’t have to leave your media at home.

Aha Mobile was a finalist in the 2010 Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at the SXSW conference last week. With so many new social media services cropping up left and right, we tend to look past many of them in frustration. Aha Radio, however, is one I can definitely get excited about.

Aha Radio will easily turn all of your favorite websites into on-demand radio stations, right on your iPhone. You can grab the App for free and set it up in minutes. Listen to all of your podcasts while driving, or catch up on your friends’ Facebook statuses. Keep your eyes on the road while driving, and let the App keep you in touch. Switch to the Nearby Traffic station to check traffic conditions, or even find out what restaurants may be nearby.

Check out some of the things you can do with Aha Radio on your iPhone:

Check the Traffic Conditions – Get instant updates on traffic conditions ahead of you, based on your current location. The App pulls information from Inrix and Clear Channel. In addition, it gives you instant information about accidents and events that other drivers using the App have reported. See something you need to alert drivers behind you to? No problem. Just tap the screen and leave a voice shout to let them know.

Facebook Check-in – Trying to read status updates on Facebook while driving is a stupid idea. Listening to them, however, is no more dangerous than listening to the radio or a CD. Aha Radio filters out social game updates, and will only read actual status updates to you.

Community Interaction – Hate driving alone? You can tune in to either the Jokes or Rants stations, and have a few laughs. There’s also a Karaoke area, where you can die laughing while listening to other drivers sing along to their favorite tunes. If you’re brave, you can even record your own voice to share.

Hungry – Ah, food. I don’t know about you, but I always want to know what munchables might be along the route I’m driving. Using this feature would let me know what restaurants may be up ahead, and even prioritize them according to my preferences.

Enhances your driving experience in a way that neon lights and spoilers never could. I downloaded it while still listening to the presentation during SXSW, and I’m thinking you’re crazy if you don’t get it for yourself.

Listen. I don’t have a problem with the world of “social media.” I have a problem with the carpetbaggers inside of it. This video better explains the type of person I’m referring to:

And lest you forget, “social media” was once referred to as “new media.” Any guesses as to what the next label will be? Hopefully, it won’t be “douche media.”

So, are you a social media douchebag? Here’s a checklist:

You haven’t done anything but regurgitate what other people have done.

You can call yourself a “Social Media Expert” without giggling.

You suggest everything is a “fail” before you’ve moved out of your parents’ house.

You think the world begins and ends with one or two blogs.

You once had “marketing” or “PR” splashed across your business card.

You make liberal use of the word “conversation” when nobody is talking to (or about) you.

You only attend events that provide professional “opportunity” advancement.

You have no industry perspective or prowess, yet you offer it.

You use the term “Web 2.0” without knowing what it actually is.

You think this list doesn’t really apply to you.

And before you point a guilty finger in my direction, Gnomedex was covering blogging and RSS back in 2001 before half of you assclowns had your own feed. In 1996, WordPress and Twitter and Facebook didn’t exist – but that didn’t stop some of us from sharing information with the world.

To the best of my knowledge (and understanding of history): it’s IMPOSSIBLE to define or label an era until we’ve passed through it completely. Nobody was wandering around during the “Dark Ages” talking about how they were living in the “Dark Ages.” Web 2.0 is a conference – not a technology or period of time.